LG G2 review: The best smartphone of 2013 - and still a great deal

LG G2 review

LG's 2013 flagship LG G2 smartphone has been on the market for a while now, but even after the LG G3 launch it remains a great handset. Read our LG G2 review to see how it compares to the iPhone 5S, Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2. *And* how it compares to the LG G3.

Most flagship smartphones launch at more than £500, and occasionally more than £600 on a SIM-free basis. However, sometimes a device turns up and bucks the trend. One of those devices is the Nexus 5 (and the Nexus 4 before it) and with the LG G2 this manufacturer also followed suit.

Unfortunately, most smartphones are still purchased on long and expensive contracts but there's never been a better time to buy your phone outright and choose a SIM-only plan. Ok, you still need to outlay a fair amount to being with but if you can manage it, you'll find yourself saving money in the long run. See also: LG G2 mini hands-on review.

SIM-only plans offer good value for money and when a newer and better deal comes along you can switch quickly and easily because you're not tied down to a contract. The other thing is that new smartphones come along so darn fast, that if you're stuck in a two-year contract then you're phone is going to be out-of-date long before you're due and 'upgrade'. And we use inverted commas here because you're unlikely to be offered a brand new device anyway. Buying outright means you can sell your phone at a good price when something new takes your fancy. You only need to pay the difference rather than the full price.

This is exactly what the LG G2 provides and when you look at the spec sheet, it's simply amazing what you get for your money. A gorgeous 5.2in screen is squeezed into a body which is about the same size as the Galaxy S4. The front of the device has a higher screen to bezel ratio than any other device and the super-slim bezels on the side give an edge-to-edge look which oozes class.

Moving on from the screen, there is a blisteringly fast quad-core processor and a 13Mp rear camera which has optical image stabilisation. Storage is a small downside since there's only 16- or 32GB on offer and there is no microSD card slot for adding more. It's about the only thing which the G2 doesn't have. The G2's hardware is up there with the best devices around but the price is much lower.

Put off by the buttons on the back? Well they work really well. The power button isn't really a bother because you can double tap the screen to turn it on and off and the volume buttons are perfectly placed to make adjustments during a phone call. The only way they don't really make sense is using the volume keys as a camera shutter button – your finger just gets in the way of the lens.

LG G2 review: Design and build

The front of the LG G2 looks similar to the Samsung Galaxy S4, although it has no physical or touch sensitive buttons below the screen. However, flip it over and the handset looks quite unique. We like the fibreglass-style finish but more notable is the fact that buttons have been slapped below the camera. See: What's the best phone you can buy in 2013?

Almost every smartphone on the market has a power button on the side or top but LG has thrown the rule book out of the window. The power and volume keys, collectively known as the Rear Key, are all places on the back.

It's a strange concept but something we've got accustomed to over time – the volume buttons a placed ergonomically so you can make adjustments while on a call. Thanks to a feature called KnockON, you don’t actually need the power key to switch the phone on and off. A simple double tap of the screen will bring it to life, although it doesn't always work first time. You can also turn it off by double tapping the notification bar or an empty section of the homescreen.LG has impressed us in the same way Samsung did with the S4, by squeezing a large screen into a small chassis. The G2 is smaller than the Xperia Z1 and only marginally bigger than the S4 but has a larger screen than both at 5.2 in. Super slim bezels give it a great 'edge-to-edge' look.

Again, the LG G3 can top this with a 530+ppi 5.5in display that offers Quad HD resolution. It is a stunning looking display, but there's nothing wrong with that of the LG G2.

Protecting the front is Gorilla Glass 2 and although the rear is plastic, the G2 feels solid and well-made. A couple of minor caveats on the design and build front include the statutory information and 'do not bin' spoiling the look of the rear cover a tad and the earpiece is slightly recessed from the glass so collects dirt.

LG G2 review: Hardware and performance

The G2 is equipped with Qualcomm's latest smartphone chip, the 2.26 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800. This is accompanied by an Adreno 330 GPU and a healthy 2 GB of RAM. The phone comes in either 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage and you might be best off opting for the latter as there's no microSD card slot for expansion. This is one area in which the LG G3 massively outperforms its older brother: it has an SD card slot that can take up to 128GB cards.

Number crunching is all well and good but the real-world performance of the phone is more important. As we've found with other Snapdragon 800 devices, the Galaxy Note 3 and Xperia Z1, the performance is excellent. Navigation around the OS is super slick, opening apps is snappy and scrolling though pages or lists is smooth.

The only real issue we can find is that web pages can take a small amount of time to re-render when zooming back out. This is an issue which the iPhone doesn't suffer from.

As we mentioned earlier, LG has managed to pack a 5.2 in IPS display into a phone which you wouldn't expect to find such a big screen. Matching other top Android handsets, it's got a Full HD resolution and although the size means the pixel density is a little lower, 424 ppi, the difference isn't noticeable. The fantastic display is a key feature of the G2 for us.

With the smartphone market so hotly contended, extra features are a way of standing out from the crowd. While the LG G2 isn't waterproof like Sony's phones, it still has a few tricks up its sleeve beyond the usual and now standard combination of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and 4G support.

Many of these are software (see below) but there are some hardware delights, too. First of all, the G2 has an infrared transmitter so you can control things like TVs and Blu-ray players from the phone. It works well but can be found on the Galaxy S4 and HTC One.

Something which is more unique will be music to the ears of all you audiophiles out there. The G2 supports up to 24bit/192kHz audio playback for FLAC and WAV files – something which is lacking from even the iPhone 5S. This can only be accessed by the headphone port but it's impressive none the less.

Calling

The G2 offers good call quality. Signal strength is consistent (using a GiffGaff SIM and O2's network) and we've had no drop outs. Like most high-end smartphones, the device has dual-microphones – one at the bottom and one at the top. Active noise cancelling keeps, er, noise to a minimum which is great when you're in busy and loud environment.

On the software front, the G2 uses LG's own dialler and contacts apps. The dialler is simple and functional, split into five sections: the dialler, call logs, contacts, favourites and groups. You can easily navigate between the tabs by clicking the icons at the top or swiping left and right.

Contacts is an app which can be displayed in QSlide mode which means it's a floating window which can be made transparent. VuTalk is a take it or leave it feature which you might never use or find really handy. If you contact has it, you can share your screen, and send drawings or handwriting in real-time.

LG G2 review: Cameras

The impressive specs line-up continues with the G2's cameras. The rear camera, which sits above the Rear Key, has a resolution of 13 Mp and features optical image stabilisation (OIS). We like LG's video explaining this.

There's no dedicated camera key on the G2 which is a shame but the camera takes high quality photos and videos nevertheless. It's not the best smartphone camera around, that goes to the Lumia 1020, but it's up there with the best.

Click to enlarge

Focus can take a little while to lock on at times but you can switch to manual if you should be brave enough, not that manual is faster. There are a range of different shooting modes which unfortunately include 'Beauty Shot' and 'Dual Camera'.

OIS means that videos are kept smooth and mostly shake-free and the G2 is able to shoot in up to 1080p quality at 60 fps. For videos, you can use Audio Zooming to hone in on the sound from the left, right or center of the clip and Zoom to Track to focus on a subject during playback. Both are a bit hit and miss and slightly on the gimmicky side of things.

The 2 Mp front facing camera also offers great quality imagery with up to 1080p video at 30 fps.

LG G2 review: Software

Smartphone manufacturers tend to go one of two ways with their Android interfaces; vanilla as Google intended or all-out customisation with their own skin or overlay.

Samsung went overboard with additional features with the Galaxy S4 and LG has gone down that path with the G2, but luckily not as far. LG's Practical UX doesn't look as stylish as HTC's or Sony's. It's more akin to Samsung's TouchWiz with popping colours and cluttered areas, namely the notification bar which LG has crammed everything imaginable into (see right).

Luckily it's not enough of a mess to put us off the phone and the following software features really help the G2 to stand out from the crowd.

We've already mentioned KnockON as a way of switching the phone on and off without using the rear located buttons, and the fact the G2 has an infrared transmitter which is unitised by the QuickRemote app. However, there are plenty more on offer.

There are a number of Samsung-esque gestures which you can perform to answer a phone call or snooze your alarm but we found some other software tricks much more useful.

Guest Mode allows you to set an alternative lock screen pattern which effectively leads to a restricted account. That's great if you don't want your mates to see your camera roll or you want to hand your phone to a child without giving them free reign.

QSlide is a function similar to the small apps found on Sony smartphones, but more advanced. You can select from a number of apps, including web browser, messaging and email, which then appear on the screen in a small window. This can be moved around the screen, resized, and transparency adjusted.

Slide Aside is an alternative to the built-in Android multi-tasking which lets you, er, slide up to three apps off the screen with a three finger gesture. You can then easily switch between these with a reverse gesture, or via the notification bar.

There's more to mention, too. Plug & Pop will make suggestions when headphones or a USB cable is plugged in and you can even reply to text messages without even opening the messaging app.

Furthermore, you can access the phone's storage from a PC or laptop wirelessly if they are connected to the same network.

LG G2 review: More software

Messaging

SMS

As well as other basic apps such as the Dialler and Contacts, LG replaces the vanilla Google apps for messaging. In a similar way to iOS, SMS messages appear in a thread formed of colour coordinated bubbles. Not necessary but a nice feature is the ability to customise the look and feel of the interface by changing the background wallpaper (even photos from your gallery) plus the colour and style of the messages bubbles.

Email

As with any Android smartphone, Gmail is included so this will probably be your go to app for email. However, you can add non-Google accounts to the aptly named E-mail app. Here you can add Microsoft Exchange and POP or IMAP accounts.

Browser

Many Android smartphones pre-load two web browsers: the Android browser and Chrome. Unfortunately, the G2 is no exception meaning it's a bit confusing having two apps offering the same thing from the off. Luckily you can tell the G2 which you prefer to use as a default browser, just like you would do on your PC.

Chrome is a top mobile browser with a good interface and slick performance. Of course, Android will let you install alternatives if you favour, for example, Firefox, Opera, Dolphin and others.

LG G2 review: Battery life

The G2 continues to impress when it comes to battery life. The smartphone has a large 11.1Wh (3000mAh) capacity battery – notable given the physical size of the device. That's almost as big as the phablet-sized Galaxy Note 3.

With a general usage pattern, the G2 lasts a good couple of days with the potential to last three for those who don't sit playing Real Racing 3 all day long. The phone predicts how much time there is until depletion and how much percentage you've burned in the last three hours.

OUR VERDICT

LG trumped the competition with the G2. The phone offers a combination of value for money with high-end features which we haven't seen from rival flagship devices. A great specification combined with impressive design and handy software features mean there's very little to dislike about this handset - only really the lack of a microSD card slot. That fault is rectified in the new LG G3, and if you can afford that handset it will be worth the upgrade. But the LG G2 remains a great handset.

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Comments

Pete Thompson said: Comments,Pete Thompson,how good is it in 2015? Was thinking of signing up for a G3 on contract but the G2 is only £150 notes and im not locked in

Luis Martinez said: Comments,Luis Martinez,I've owned a vivo xplay 3s since December 2013 and that phone is the very best that 2013 offered. PC advisor should rephrase their headline to best phone that can be bought in UK.

ae said: Comments,ae,The screen is so weak though and it is very costly to replace. It can break even without falling down

Eddy said: Comments,Eddy,The G2 is easily a competitor for every other high-end smartphone out there. The "weird" button layout works for us, and it's paired with some smart touch functions that are well thought out. The phone looks and feels great, and just works as a smartphone should.

Tsais said: Comments,Tsais,Well, since Google gave up on following their old "do no evil" guideline, I'm ready to switch to anyone who brings out a decent Linux phone.And the Nexus 5 is crap, it has no Micro SD card slot..

Tsais said: Comments,Tsais,I had a Z, which had the perfect size, but battery life was short.Now I have a Z2, which is a little too long, with wide empty space on top and bottom, but the battery life is excellent now.I think its the best phone I had especially with the Macbook-like magnetic charge cable as well as the tiny magnetic dock that doesn't require fiddling with the USB port either.I would like it to have wireless charging, a fingerprint scanner and dual SIM slots.I have no clue why there's no flagship phones with dual SIM slots. Do those who spend the most on their phones to have the best, have no use for 2 different SIM cards? I don't think so...!

Tsais said: Comments,Tsais,you're kidding, right? Hulu, Netflix etc... I guess you're paying for unlimited bandwidth and never leave your little city where you have perfect coverage and your network connection never drops out.I bring stuff on my phone cause I actually travel and because 3G / LTE connections always have limits, even the so-called "unlimited plans" are limited.So, the lack of a Micro SD card would simply mean I'm supposed to waste my good money on paying the carriers to stream to me what I could just store on an $50 SD card.Not to mention that you can carry multiple Micro SD cards. Either for extended Video shooting (1080p, 4k, anyone?) or for general storage of lots of things you want to have with you on your travels.True, some bore who never breaks out of their suburbian routine, and basically has no interests in anything, maybe they don't need any memory.

Tsais said: Comments,Tsais,If you can't even afford one, that perfectly explains why you think that which you've never been able to test is going to be great even with lack of storage and diminished flexibility in moving data from device to device... :P

Tsais said: Comments,Tsais,Hah! things besides .mkv files also take up space.One of the best things about my Sony Z2 is, that I can carry my entire library of ebooks anywhere I go, including medical books, books on plant biology, books on how to make and build various things, how to set up Aquaponics systems, how to use Solidworks and a multitude of other knowledge out of humanity's great libraries. And of course George Orwell's 1984, which we are in the process of overshooting.Now that's the real value of a tiny computer like this, that happens to also be able to make calls. That's convenient, but not as important as being able to look up most anything, even if you don't have a connection.One day, there will not be any connection.

Tsais said: Comments,Tsais,"Why leave it out?"Because Google said so! Any manufacturer who wants to make a "NEXUS" device or the new "silver" Android experience is bound by Google NOT to include a Micro SD card.They want to push people into their Cloud for more targeted advertising and involuntary NSA backups of your data.

Tsais said: Comments,Tsais,Because space is cheap! Why wouldn't you lug around more of your music, books, pictures, etc?I never know ahead of time what movie or other thing I will feel like watching or reading.If I'm supposed to carry around just very little, why don't I just go with an old Sony Walkman from the 80's and save myself all the expense of this newfangled junk??

Tsais said: Comments,Tsais,24GB... I got 12GB of ebooks alone. Add 5GB of audio books, 4GB of music at 192kbps, 3GB of concert videos ~2GB in pictures and I'm already past the 24GB, not to mention space for apps and a load of 1080p movies at 4GB a pop. I wouldn't bother to buy anything below a 64GB MicroSD card.But lets say you don't carry around a load of books on various subjects or any of that other stuff I mention. A Micro SD card is still the best way to get pictures printed out at photo stores that don't support hooking up your phone. Its also a very good way to move data from device to device whenever the transfer software decides to get finicky, or you don't happen to have the right cable...A computer without any kind of removable data storage drive is just bad.Lastly, you do realize that Google is pushing manufacturers to not include SD card slots, starting with Nexus devices, cause they want to push users into using their cloud for purely selfish purposes.

RedStar said: Comments,RedStar,Well i`ve been using a G2 for some months now and still love it. it works great. It may have not enough memory but its not really a problem for me. its still an awesome phone

iammacha said: Comments,iammacha,I got my LG G2 the day it hit shelves and I love it. It my "pocket pc" :) no problems and I swear I find new cool things it does everyday still. Great work LG, keep it up. (I'm from the U.S.)I just read a few other comments and have to say I do not have these issues. I use it daily, all day, non office environment and have no problem with the knock on and off or anything else.

Sheery said: Comments,Sheery,Not sure about many other people but my friend and I have this phone and have the same issues. Now this phone has a billion amazing features but a lot of the time the phones do not respond to your touch when you go to unlock it. Also this phones unique features would be better suited for someone in, let's say, an office environment where you would keep your phone on a flat surface such as a desk. But a lot of the unique features so not work when your phone lives on your pocket like mine. I'm mostly talking about flipping your phone to ignore calls and such. Amazing feature such as facial recognition. If you look away while watching a movie or recording it'll pause it. This feature can be touchy.

Alistair Wiseman said: Comments,Alistair Wiseman,I travel lots. I watch House/Fringe episodes on flights regularly. It's ideal for me, especially on Amsterdam to UK flights. I also travel by Eurolines and Megabus, and again it's ideal to stick something like Star Trek 2 on, and kill a few hours.

jack_daniels said: Comments,jack_daniels,Get the Sony Z2 or Z1. Both have expandable micro sd card slot. My Z1 regularly gives 34-35k scores in Antutu. While my friends G2 doesn't cross even 32k. I think G2's performance is bogged down by huge amount of LG bloatware. HTC One M8 is a gud one though with consistent scores of 36-36.5k !!!

megan said: Comments,megan,I have had this phone since November of last year. I had to replace the phone twice because of problems. An my third one has just as many problems. I love this phone when it works which is 3/4 of the time but the rest of the time is ridiculous. Way too many problems. If I could take it back I would.

Guest said: Comments,Guest,With 24GB of user storage, one might not even need it.

Connielicious88 said: Comments,Connielicious88,G-Dragon for LG ;)

Susan A said: Comments,Susan A,I was literally about to write everything you wrote up to "I'm sorry". Our experience isn't "alike", it's exactly the same. I even have a corrupted 64 GB Sandisk SDXC I sitting on the desk, right next to my mouse.
The only difference is, I was going to be around 4 times more harsh. Google can go to hell. Their behavior over the past 6-12 months has been an infuriatingly beyond the pale combination of incompetent, rude, condescending and overtly dishonest. Google's become a den of knaves who are insane with - and for - money. The crap they pulled at YouTube in November is reason enough to never do business with them again.
I mean, step back and do the math on what they're up to and how overwhelming a force they're trying to become in YOUR life: forcing people to open g+ accounts with their "real" name to write a review in the Play store or to continue using a product "you" paid for in the iOS ecosystem: Quickoffice - because they decided to buy it and then be jerks. Buying Nest puts them in your home....Google Glass puts them on your face....They're digging in your phone with Now...in your notes with Keep....in your social circles with Plus......in your online searches....they know where you go and how long you're there....they host your Calendar....they've been trying to take over your car for several years....they're making computers.....web browsers....Operating Systems....and on, and on.....
So, buy this phone? No. I don't think so. Not me. I'm not living on planet Google. As of November, as far as I'm concerned "Google" is Latin for "DO NOT BUY. DO NOT USE."
@##$ them.

Nathan said: Comments,Nathan,This is great! I ended up going off contract, though, so Nexus 5.

MikeW987 said: Comments,MikeW987,Why would you want to watch a film on a 5 inch screen? The only time I would have time to watch a film is at home where I can do it on a screen 200x the size. Obvious answer "because you can" - but how how long does the novelty last? (Unless you're really sad)

Parmenides said: Comments,Parmenides,The small onboard storage capacity combined with lack of an sd card is a total deal breaker for me. This might not matter much to others, but I have over 50 gigs of music and am not interested in toting around a second device to store it on. I don't really understand the point of allowing flac music and ocher lossless formats when the phone doesn't have the capacity to store those files in any effective way.

Fareeda23 said: Comments,Fareeda23,I currently have a samsung s4... I initially thought the phone was amazing (i've been an iphone user for like 5-6 years) but took the leap and migrated to Android. We've had a good relationship so far - Android and I.... but recently, since the update it constantly freezes. Not only that, this business about the expandable memory? Well that was one of the main reasons why I bought the S4, I thought it was brilliant having 64GB extra space - I have a ton of photos and a pretty decent sized music library. However, the past 2 months.. the (Sandisk) SD card kept dismounting without me even doing anything or even if I dare to switch the phone off! - all the content on the SD card becomes corrupted and I lose some very precious photos.. So I tried a samsung SD card to see if that would alleviate the problem... Nope - doesn't help.I'm sorry... people can bitch all the like about the storage issue with the LG G2 but look at what you are getting for less than £400 - this phone can easily rival some of the flagship phones on the market right now. To get around the storage issue just use a cloud service? Is it really that bad to use them??To be honest with you... performance of the LG G2 phone, the battery life on this beast, the simple design and the 'weird' yet effective placing of the power/sound buttons are reasons enough for ME to get this phone.

jplazas said: Comments,jplazas,We appreciate the fact that the LG G2 has FM Radio but we really miss the ability of the 3rd button of the headset to change stations and turn off the radio. It's not justified the fact to take it out of my pockets every time I want to change stations. I really like the three Front Touch Buttons on the screen 5.2 inches. However, this buttons greatly reduce the real screen size to 4.8 inches most of the apps. I suggest a new option to hide/show this buttons in order to maximize the screen usage. Hopefully this will be improved in updates.

Tim Storecross said: Comments,Tim Storecross,In 4 or 5 years, budget phones won't even be matching this phone on hardware... As for the iPhone, with its less than 720p screen, dual core processor and it's small battery; budget phone companies are starting to match this sort of hardware already! I'm a long time Apple fan, but their phones disappoint me up against powerhouses like the G2.

I hate my LGG2 said: Comments,I hate my LGG2,Don't buy this phone, if you crack the damn thing it's broken and bricked until you pay $70 dollars to get it fixed. it has no micro-SD so please just don't buy it go with the Samsung galaxy.

poochewer said: Comments,poochewer,The s4 is a very dissapointing phone. Lots of weird things like u cant flash modem file via recovery or u cant sync google bookmarks with the stock browser. Many others I cant remember now. Its not like a normal sammy. Oh also its not very bright-----hard to see in sunlight.

poochewer said: Comments,poochewer,I got rid of the s4 as well and what a difference! the main thing i notice about this phone is that the longer u own it the more u realize how bloody good it is! the s4 is a toy compared to this thing

JamisonWorkshop said: Comments,JamisonWorkshop,Not sure why no one is privy to the USB expansion cards you can get for android devices. Meenova makes a micro USB sd card adapter the size of a quarter. 64gb cards to swap at will. Download Nexus Media importer and you are golden. Hook up a 1TB hard drive if your heart so desires. Works great. No complaints at all Read and write.

Laulou said: Comments,Laulou,I was really pleasantly surprised with the LG G2 - I've never been a huge fan of LG phones, but this one doesn't fell like LG made it.

Rrrrrr said: Comments,Rrrrrr,I use my phone heavily for business (loads of calls, emails, contact and document management, web browsing) with occasional media use (photo viewing, listening to songs) and a good camera is important for me as well as I love to take photos.
I used many Android top models from Sony, HTC in the previous years and I tested iOS and Windows Mobile thoroughly for compatibility with my selected work tools (primarily Google products).
Until now I found the LG G2 to be the most impressive phone by any means!! Software is very fast, the phone looks and feels good and it almost reads my mind, I can do everything with the greatest ease. No lagging, no freezing, just fast work. The camera produces great photos, probably iPhone or Nokia Lumia can produce a tad better quality but G2 is on par with the Samsung S4 which is supposed to be the best Android camera phone. HTC One is a HUGE disappointment in that respect, the Ultrapixel camera is a total BS, it makes good photos only in dark.
Samsung S4 is the only real contender, but it is let down by 2 serious things: battery life on the G2 is remarkably better (!!! I used my phone heavily for business today - no gaming, no videos though - and there is still 48% battery at 22:00) and the price in our market is ca 150eur lower. Besides its just a personal opinion, but the G2 looks also nicer than the S4.
Sony and HTC has trendier UI and the HTC phone design is nicer, but the overall impression is still the best for the G2. Besides Sony has a super-buggy software that gets always worse and worse with every update until the phones become unusable (experience with ca 10 phones of me or my colleagues). HTC has a complicated UI, weak battery life and sub-par camera.

Jay said: Comments,Jay,There are a few things that people seem to not be taking advantage of or completely forgetting about for some reason. For Video: Are we forgetting Netflix? Hulu Plus? Crackle? iTunes? BlinkBox? Amazon Instant Video? There are tons of Video Cloud Services at your fingertips, and unless you are some sort of movie/TV hipster who needs a 1970 episode of "The Young Rebels" or "The Good Life" I think you'll be OK.
There is no need to waste storage space. Why are you watching this on your phone anyway? If you have the money for this phone, you would probably have a tablet also. That's the main reason that tablets exist, in the consumer market at least. They were created as media comfort devices (for consumers. For businesses its a different story.), which explains why Google actually released a Wi-Fi only version of the 2013 Nexus 7. You don't need 4G on it to watch stuff, because you've stored it all on your tablet.
Watching on a phone, IMO, is an uncomfortable experience; You are either holding your hands out in front of you, or straining your neck down looking at the phone in your lap. I guess if you are a TV/Movie addict who needs to watch 30 minutes of a show on the bus to/from work or laying in your bed at night and you don't have a TV, I can understand. Seriously, you don't need to spend that much money on a phone like this for that. Go buy a tablet, which is much cheaper. The Nexus 7 is ~$260 on Amazon. Its light and easy to hold, it has a larger screen so you don't strain your eyes. This Phone is ~$600. Its smaller. Its meant MORE for communication, less for media.
You have space for a tablet in your bag. Pull it out and watch your movie on the bus. It takes 2 seconds to do that. All of the movies are stored on your tablets storage, while your phone is free for more work related things, or if you are all about fun I guess more space for apps.
It literally makes no sense to use your phone for video besides Youtube and things of that nature.
Lets push on further.
For Audio, so many things: Spotify, LastFM, AmazonPrime, GrooveShark, MusicUnlimited So many radio station apps its mind-bending. Some of these you can actually upload your OWN music that you have and play it off of there.
OK, so you don't want to pay subscription fees. You don't want to use up your data connection streaming. You want to listen to the music you have on your main computer at home. I get it, I'm the same way. Unless you have ALL FLAC (Lossless Compression, about ~80MB for a 7 Minute Song), you will probably be taking up at maximum 5-7GBs of space, even with 320Kb/s MP3s. What does that leave you? 17GB~15GBs to use as you choose. Apps, File-storage, anything.
I don't see why not having the SD Card is a big deal. I don't see why you would want to harass yourself watching Movies on a small phone. Why pay $600 dollars when you could pay less than half that price for a more comfortable experience? I don't understand, unless you are an artist, and then you have way better storage solutions, why you need your 200GB Music collection on your phone at any given time. I am a bedroom DJ and I don't need that much. its all on my 1TB at home, because I don't possibly have that much time to listen to all that in the maybe 20-40 minutes I might get to listen to it on my phone when I'm Bluetooth streaming to my car or exercising.
You can argue that "I need the freedom to choose what I want when I want at any given time, I want my options BECAUSE." Well sir you are just being difficult, because you don't REALLY need those options, you just want to feel free from your trapped life. Accept what you ACTUALLY need not what you may think you want but really don't use but would like to have but don't really need it but might use it someday.

Chris Martin said: Comments,Chris Martin,Indeed. Here's the official one on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-Qui...

bob mcbobberson said: Comments,bob mcbobberson,Do they make flip open cases which allow you to still use the buttons on the back?

Commonsense said: Comments,Commonsense,Wow do you work for LG or married to some one who does? If not stop abusing people who make a perfectly reasoned comment saying for nearly £400 the phone should have more memory. It is afterall only £50 for huge micro sd memory so it seems a great suggestions whereas as your comments ugh!

David said: Comments,David,No micro-SD? Ah, bummer. No longer on my list of consideration.

john said: Comments,john,The G2 has the "IT: FACTOR. Hard to explain but this phone is sensational. innovative and downright smart in every way. LG with its G2, MOTOROLA with its MOTO X and the NEXUS 5. Hail to the new King - GOOGLE. Ding dong APPLE is ____. They had a good run but the chance of a rebound to the glory days look very bleak. A CEO with the creativity of a face cloth and company with the drive of a car with no engine. That's a good thing. Not for APPLE. But for the consumer looking for "WOW". I will always like my IPHONE 4. Back when APPLE was hungry, not sitting on a pile of cash and innovative.

NCBrian said: Comments,NCBrian,Lots of silliness here. Why would a microSD card need to "ruin an elegant unibody design?"
The SDcard on my HTC EVO, for example, went under the battery. A big part of technology is also usefulness and many of us "dumbasses" have need of more storage.
And it's not about people who need 64g of storage - what if someone needs more than 32? Or more realistically more than 24gb or so? They sell the phone in 16 and 32 gb models, not 64. So either you're misinformed or being hyperbolic. Functionally that's more like 12 and 24 gigs of usable storage respectively.
Charging more for what should have been user-expandable is a big part of why i never bought an iPhone in the first place.
As screens get better and CPUs get faster developers are able to do more and more. While I would agree that cloud storage is "the future," we're not quite there yet and pretending that there isn't a demand for user-expandable storage is extremely myopic.

NCBrian said: Comments,NCBrian,this argument makes no sense. and yes, i read the comments below, including your follow-up to this silliness.
I think Mac OSX is the best OS ever made. For that reason alone, to me, no Windows computer would ever be "better" than my macbook air. I happen to think the same thing about Android OS vs iOS which I do not like at all. So there again, for me, no iPhone would be "better" to me than a similarly spec'd Android phone.
So how could this phone be better than the iPhone 5S? well - in a lot of ways actually, but I would argue that the Operating System is a big one.

NCBrian said: Comments,NCBrian,and what about apps? they get bigger and bigger every year. I bought the HTC EVO when it first came out and immediately put a larger SD card in it - and that phone is pushing 4 years old.
many people have multi-gig music collections that they absolutely want to carry around with them.
Even as a long-time Mac user, this kind of restriction is the reason why i refuse to buy iphones and use android in the first place...

NCBrian said: Comments,NCBrian,trolling? are you serious?

NCBrian said: Comments,NCBrian,But as you also said in the review, the g2 is the "best smartphone you can buy"
I don't see how these two statements can be reconciled with each other.
The XYZ car is the best car you can buy, but it only has a 6-gallon tank.

NCBrian said: Comments,NCBrian,how can those two statements not conflict with one another? What if BMW released some amazing car but it only had a 6-gallon tank?
After being forced by my boss to switch to Mac about 5 years ago, I can tell you that unless something drastically changes I will never go back to windows. OSX is the best operating system ever made, in my opinion. But I will never buy an iPhone for this same kind of silliness.
To many people no sdcard is a deal-breaker. Calling this phone "the best" with what you yourself called "pure foolishness" is absurd.

bob bob said: Comments,bob bob,I don't understand why anyone absolutely needs to have a MicroSD Card Slot. What can you possibly need 64 gb of storage for? Are you keeping your entire music and video library on your phone? Cramming it with games? These don't just take up unnecessary space, but they also slow down your system. And with more and more companies offering (free) cloud storage for the necessary things (like pictures and some music), why would you still look to the ancient method of storing files on a MicroSD that ruins an elegant unibody design? A big part of technology is design, and it cannot progress if dumbasses like most of you cling on to your precious (and easily breakable) MicroSD card.

herpderp said: Comments,herpderp,Did you know... Ford owns Jaguar. LAWL interesting fact eh? And since you are going to use only manufacturer in your example I would rather have a FORD GT over a Jaguar anything.

Tony Cola said: Comments,Tony Cola,Dude the phone is so fast it only takes seconds to drop in and out new HD movies. I got one for 50 bucks and it blows my old s4 away! You can jump right on to your network with it no USB hook up needed. When I'm in my house, I can rely on the memory of any of the computers I have in my house.

StuH said: Comments,StuH,I just got this phone having had Apple4 and 4S (and IPad). Result! Way quicker smoother and flexible. One interesting observation. I don't believe the sound quality is as good as Apple (using the same after market headphones). I have tried different music player apps to the same effect. Would welcome other views and /or solutions to this!

Untouchmenot said: Comments,Untouchmenot,Well its always been an issue for quite some time now the lack of expansion card for the LG G2. Do you think LG will come up a G2 device with an expansion card?

marorun1982 said: Comments,marorun1982,You tue troll 27 day ago . Posted this. I had an htc one before with 24 gb of free memory and it's was not enuf for me. Now . Got 25 gb of mp3 because I got 6 month of Sony music unlimited and I can save them for offline playback. Do you think i am the only one with a lots of music?

Matt Egan said: Comments,Matt Egan,The Nexus 5 is, basically, the LG G2 for half the price. It's an amazing deal. Definitely the best value on the market. But it is worth examining why it is so cheap: it's not that you are being ripped off, it's because Google is happy to take the hit on each device in order to increase market share. Google is (a) cash rich and (b) an advertising company that requires user data to generate revenue. As such it makes perfect sense for it to undercut the market to get people using Android (and in turn generating loads of data and advertising opportunities). But don't expect it to bring down the price of other phones. Google is unique and none of the other phone makers could afford such a loss leader.

tee said: Comments,tee,Look at Google with the Nexus 5. Very little if any exposure but they undercut the competition without cutting costs and they'd on a winner. Not saying its better phone that the IPhone (I personally do)
Make s you think how much we're getting ripped off?.

teee said: Comments,teee,Stick with your Sony then then and stop trolling. Why do you need to carry 12 gb of music everywhere with you anyway (In your phone. The kast time time I lokked a mciro s d card did't take up much room. Stop nick picking. Its a top class phone, just wish I could afford one.

George said: Comments,George,The G2 is better than the iPhone in almost every single way and it's cheaper. Your argument makes no sense.

george said: Comments,george,Not all of us get to go home every night to our big screen TVs, or are always in an area with LTE where we can easily stream media with no problems. It makes no sense to not have this option in a device where, 1 single movie that you're supposed to be able to watch, will take up over half of the available storage.

George said: Comments,George,Absolutely. In a phone that is supposed to be used to consume full HD content, 22GB is simply a deal breaker. If it weren't for the lack of expandable storage I'd buy this phone in a heartbeat.

Le Cochon Bleu said: Comments,Le Cochon Bleu,Absolutely. I believe Apple started this kind of thing, in being the main manufacturer which did not switch to flash card memory when it was becoming widespread. Instead, Apple made a big marketing identity project out of the size of the maximum memory in many of its hand held devices, and fixated that in customers' minds with price and status for higher memory. To carry a little machine that could play more of the albums you wanted it to became a social status and marketing thing combined. Ludicrous.
But at least Apple hasn't been fixing things at 22 GB for a long time. And Apple would know that to do that for such a good, powerful device as this LG phone and mini computer would lead to an uprising among its market fans.

mountainloafers said: Comments,mountainloafers,All of your points are valid. I am wise enough to know that what suits my needs will not suit everyone else's and it seems like such an easy thing to include in all phones. So, why leave it out. One of the biggest issues here, is there are all of these people out there buying iphones and Android devices without expandable memory and that is a huge part of the problem.
In the end, none of us should have to sacrifice or figure out alternatives, becaue I believe the majority of us want SD card expansion and would even be willing to pay a little extra for the convenience.

mountainloafer said: Comments,mountainloafer,As much as I would like all phones to provide micro SD storage for convenience, I often wonder why people need to lug around their entire music collection or more than one or two HD movies at a time.
At any given time, I have about one to two gigs of my current, favorite albums on my device, dump all of my photos to dropbox or other cloud services and never have time to watch an entire movie on such a small device. I go home at the end of the day, or to my hotel room where there are larger screens and larger hard drives to access content on.
NFC and apps like bump make it easy as ever to share files. Just as easy as swapping out an SD card. Most days I carry my phone and another device where I can store more content. It really isn't the end of the world if my phone has 20 gigs of available memory and no option for expansion. It is however, a huge let down if my devices lag and have poor performance.
This phone covers so many bases that the lack of an SD card slot is minor.

marorun1982 said: Comments,marorun1982,Working for a telecom company here.. Most Wifi issue i get are from Iphone user.. Also the most reception issue ect and i am talking of the ratio of phone sold vs ratio of problem so out of 10 iphone i sell about 3/4 will contact me with various problem where Blackberry its about 2 out of 10 and android less than 1 out of 10 its funny.

marorun1982 said: Comments,marorun1982,yeah but what happen if the guy who buy a 60000$ car get a much much much better car than the one who paid 65000$ can he say the guy who paid 5000$ paid too much?

marorun1982 said: Comments,marorun1982,I would rather have a ford thats i can do everything i want with it than a Jag i can only use on a racing track.. thats how ios feel compared to android.

marorun1982 said: Comments,marorun1982,No bug on Htc one or Sony Z1 used both and they smooth and bug free. ios7 is much more buggy on all model of iphone compared to those..

marorun1982 said: Comments,marorun1982,Galaxy S4 is crap plz dont compare to this.. the HTC one dont lag at all LG G2 as well no lag and Sony Z1 as well. plz dont compare to crappy phone as Android have many manufacturer its normal its wont have same experience on all handset.

marorun1982 said: Comments,marorun1982,Bas exemple.. Iphone is like a bugatti thats you can only drive in certain way.. like only on a race track... where the G2 is more like a modded skyline with various options and no limitation but far from been premium build.

marorun1982 said: Comments,marorun1982,When you have much more device with a spécific OS its normal Hackers will develop more virus ect for this platform But hey Anti virus exist you know :) If the fact thats windows OS for pc is less secure than IOS why easily over 80% of worldwide computer use it? its popularity and possibility. This is what Android have *possibility* IOS you in prison (jailbreak is named for a good reason) So in the end number speak for themself the growth of Android Ecosystem and userbase is much much faster than ios ever had so in a few year (what i am saying even right now) the best and most used OS is Android. BUT and a big one is IOS is more easily to use for ppl not very much techsavvy and thats a good point. The iphone 5S also got a great camera (equivalent in most case to the G2 and only a bit less good than the Sony Z1) and thats is impressive but the 64 bit cpu they included wont be usefull before at least a few years so its gimmic as usual.

marorun1982 said: Comments,marorun1982,Get a Sony Z1 you get the power of the G2 in a much better build phone with SD support.

marorun1982 said: Comments,marorun1982,what about my 12 gb of music and my 1 to 2 gb games? so i can only have 5-10 games and my music and i shall not take pictures.. or download any others apps? I prefere my Sony Z1 with my wooping 12gb free on the phone itself (only 4 gb for the system thats light!) and my 64 gb micro sd card! so 73 gb aproximatively to use.

Le Cochon Bleu said: Comments,Le Cochon Bleu,Why are you going to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a pocket computer (that happens to also make phone calls) with much better processing specs than a tablet computer, just to play 1080p music videos on a tiny screen, but with low quality audio? Why are you going to pay so much for such great technology to play low quality audio anyway? Strange.
If you are using the phone as a kind of media centre, or way of streaming 1080p video to a large screen (the processor may easily handle this and much more), why would you limit yourself to 22GB with no expansion / memory swapping option? And low quality audio, even then? Output to a big screen, but use the phone's built in speakers?
I'm sorry to say you don't seem to have thought things out. That kind of response is really only for people who have many, many wads of £500 often to throw anywhere at all that they can pretend is doing some kind of cool thing, for a trick.
This machine is kind of the Chromebook of smart phones. It's a really limited thing, but this machine shouldn't be that, because it should offer so much basic choice and functionality as standard, given its power. That's just common sense.
---
"Unless you need to carry around a library of .mkv 1080p video files at all times"
... The point is you can't carry such a library or any kind of add on memory library at any times. Even once, when you've reached your 22 GB.
And I was being very conservative with the music library in my comment above. 16 GB is on the low-ish side of standard now - people want a lot of their music from years on one item. As for people who store long sets (eg. song mixes), radio shows, podcasts and take voice recordings from work and so on, 16GB is far from a lot. 16GB of audio gets used up in absolutely no time at all.

Jum said: Comments,Jum,I'm an iPhone user (3GS &amp; 4S) and I bought a LG Nexus 4 to see how the oppo stacked up to iOS. It's a good quality phone and it's nice for watching vids, but Android is too patchy for me to take seriously. (The latest bugbear is it won't recognise my home wifi when I get home - "no connection nearby" - so I have to switch the phone off and on again. Ooh! How 2013!) Until something better comes along, an iPhone remains the best choice for me.

Sarfaraz Merchant said: Comments,Sarfaraz Merchant,Only the paltry 16GB version is available (in the UK). Any ideas on whether this is likely to change?

squint9 said: Comments,squint9,Surely you knew iPhones were meant for the 20-somethings with their 20-20 vision? Can't believe you missed the memo. But no worries. Soon enough they grow up and move on to Android. ^_^

stallionleah321 said: Comments,stallionleah321,My Uncle Joseph recently got an awesome blueMercedes-Benz R-Class Diesel by work part time using a lap-top. my sourcesJ­a­m­2­0­.­ℂ­o­m

gautam said: Comments,gautam,I just got my G2 the other day and I absolutely love it. Had an iPhone 4S previously (yes with ios7) and this completely blows it away. Amazing phone inside and out - very slick and very impressed with it,

DirtyDenim said: Comments,DirtyDenim,It's a small caveat for a great phone.
Unless you need to carry around a library of .mkv 1080p video files at all times, 22 GB should be fine. A 1080p music video in .mp4 is usually only around 100-200MB, permitted the audio isn't hi-res.

Hughy said: Comments,Hughy,Ever heard of the Seiko Ananta range, the best watches in the world in terms of its' mechanicals, and even a Rolex owner knows that. £25k for the range topper. I thought I'd throw this in the mix!

Matt Egan said: Comments,Matt Egan,You have no idea what I wear, Fiona, with respect. And from your comments you have a strange and warped view of the world. I am prepared to pay for quality and I have a good job. But I'd never pay for a name in clothes and in tech. And to an extent the entire purpose of PC Advisor is to point out the value not attached to the name.

matt said: Comments,matt,I have an iphone 5 but i prefered to use the gs3 and then i got the g2, the other two phones don't get out much.

Matt Egan said: Comments,Matt Egan,Hey Fiona: we do for this a living, and we're telling you that the Ford is as good as the Jaguar. In which case, only a vacuous image-obsessed airhead would insist on the Jaguar. But that's not you, right?

hussain said: Comments,hussain,The high end Android phones though cheaper are also extremely overpriced. An LG G2 user criticizing an iphone user is like a $60,000 car owner criticizing a $65,000 car owner for buying a pricey car. Keep in mind, we can buy midrange laptops for the price of these phones.

hussain said: Comments,hussain,Your lack of facts and childish, derogatory language makes me not want to take you seriously. Android also lead the way in mobile viruses.I agree on the puny screen size of the iphone though.

Satan said: Comments,Satan,iPhones are crap and over rated. Their pissy screen size is a joke. iPhones should come with a magnifying glass. Most apple users are anal wankas who are in denial. android is now the leaders when it comes to smart phones.

hussain said: Comments,hussain,iPhone is the porsche and the android is the shelby mustang. iPhone has more security and stability and offers more refinement and a better user experience (although user experience is a subjective viewpoint). The fact that Android lags on a Galaxy S4 despite having 4 cores is analogous to a Mustang which despite having a bigger engine and more muscle is ultimately slower. I also have issue with you calling an OS outdated. If it ain't broke, why fix it? We saw how people reacted when MS removed a button from their Windows. People also equate the simplicity of the iphone as a weakness whilst the truth is complexity brought down to a simplicity level is pure genius and is a testament to APPLE engineers and designers that their phones can be used by luddites. I agree that the iPhone is too small. I am frankly disappointed that they didn't release a significantly bigger phone.

hussain said: Comments,hussain,"Apple pre-packages your entire phone experience."As an iPhone user, I can attest to this but there's a good side to using a non-jailbroken iphone. it's the most secure mobile platform there is. i sure would like a phone with expandable memory and removable battery but then every benefit has its tax. I must also say that thought APPLE isn't a champion of consumer privacy, it has far more credibility than Google. Being a conscientious objector to search result altering and youtube censorship, bot reading through Gmail and a plethora of other privacy violations by Google, I refuse to use an OS designed and coded by Google. As an iphone fan, I must say the android phones look far better particularly the HTC ONE and Sony Xperia Z.

Le Cochon Bleu said: Comments,Le Cochon Bleu,But, with the best version available, when you get to 22 GB, that's it. You have to start deleting gigabytes.I recall with the old tiny Creative Zen V / V Plus MP3 players, years ago I got to 4GB easily without even adding any tiny, low res videos - with audio alone. Today, you can double or triple that. It's just that you're then left with the device as kind of "used" in terms of storage. What do I delete? Usually I didn't have a clue.
Given that a phone is an MP3 player also - take at least 8GB of 22 usable GB for audio for many people.
It's so foolish not to add flash memory. It's a huge thing - unless the phone has full USB host capacity, which would temper things a bit - pen drives instead of micro SD cards.

fyah said: Comments,fyah,Iphone is not a rolex or jag,lol. It's an aluminum can material. Iphone is more of a honda civic si. It's Good for what it is but too small n plain looking. The g2 on the other hand is more of a bugatti veyron. It's fast n has all the newer technologies in it n doesnt look outdated.

DirtyDenim said: Comments,DirtyDenim,I agree, LG's decision to not make a 64GB variant of this phone was pure foolishness. But I don't think that's enough reason to not buy it. It really is the best Android smartphone out right now, permitted you're not one to swoon over aluminum.

DirtyDenim said: Comments,DirtyDenim,You're silly. A cellphone is not a car or a sportswatch. Not everyone wants aluminum and glass, and not everyone wants to treat his or her phone like a piece of jewelry.The LG G2 absolutely blows the iPhone 5S out of the water in terms of features. I will admit that the iPhone's OS is much more refined and elegant, but the G2's OS is far more capable- and can easily be cleared up by hiding all of the bloat in the app tray and notification bar. My problem with the iPhone is you have no choices. Apple pre-packages your entire phone experience. You can't even drag and drop a song on the iPhone without going through iTunes first.The G2 is a completely different approach. LG puts the user in control of EVERYTHING. To some, that may seem daunting and "messy", but it's a dream phone for anyone who loves to customize his or her experience and wants state of the art performance out of a smartphone.

Fiona said: Comments,Fiona,Yes, a phone could be better than an iPhone but if we're just looking at the best phone irrespective of price, then it cannot be a factor, e.g., Rolex verse Seiko. Take the price OUT of the equation, what is the best watch?

Fiona said: Comments,Fiona,Absolutely, just as a the price difference between a Jaguar and a Ford can improve the balance between the two. I still rather have a Jag!

Fiona said: Comments,Fiona,Chris, what would you rather have - a Jaguar or a Ford?

Chris Martin said: Comments,Chris Martin,Of course a phone can be better than the iPhone. And the verdict very much factors in the price, it's pretty important to any purchase!

Matt Egan said: Comments,Matt Egan,I've not used this phone, but I have to ask: why couldn't it be better than an iPhone?

fiona said: Comments,fiona,So, if "best smartphone you can buy" means price is not taken into consideration, how can it possibly be better than an iPhone 5S? Come on now!

Le Cochon Bleu said: Comments,Le Cochon Bleu,Obviously, that appears to be a phenomenal processor, with a great amount of RAM. But no micro-SD card in this age is a massive omission. A phone with such advanced technology that it should dispense with need for a streaming smart TV, smart disc player or media centre, but can only store a few full HD film files. The 32GB version is listed as having 22GB available to the user.
It's getting pretty common for mobile smart telephone makers today to go for one or two huge advancements over others to steal limelight, but omit basic things. Here is a bigger processor still than nearly any tablet PC (or any, I don't think I've seen a quad core processor of that clock speed) but relatively little storage in any form available. While Nokia recently went overboard on a camera sensor with very surprising, huge capabilities in an otherwise standard smartphone.